Setchell : Lycoperdon sculptum 295 



in all the mature specimens that I have been able to examine and 

 differs from that as given by Harkness, viz., " 5-8 ja" m that the 

 average runs from 2 fi to 3.5 //. Occasionally a larger spore is 

 seen, but I have not been able to obtain any measurements ap- 

 proaching those of Harkness. The capillitium threads, in the 

 really matured specimens, are thick-walled and of the same color 

 as the spores. They are short and very seldom show any branch- 

 ing at all. For the most part, the ends appear broken, but in some 

 cases they are rounded. 



I have chosen to use the name for this species which was given 

 to it by Harkness. There seems to be no definite agreement as 

 yet as to just how and upon what characters the genus Lycoperdon 

 j shall be segregated. In the matter of dehiscence, however, it 



does not belong to that section of the genus whose members open 

 by means of an apical pore, but rather to that section in which the 

 peridium breaks up into plates which, falling off, gradually expose 

 the whole ripened gleba. This brings the species into the genus 

 Calvatia in the sense in which it is used by some authors. It is 

 also "stipitate," and this maybe another reason for considering it 

 to belong to this genus, should it be decided to keep it distinct. 

 It has already been referred to Calvatia by Lloyd (loc. cit. $ under 

 11 Calvatia sculptum "). As to its relation to the genus Areolaria, 

 I or as to its being the type of a new genus, I have very little to say, 

 I except that I agree with Lloyd that its nearest relative seems to be 

 j Lycoperdon caelatum Bull., which is also referred to Calvatia. 



University of California, 

 ! Berkeley, California. 





